Shattered Realms
by InkyBlueMind453
Summary: Emma and Henry, without their old memories, return to the Enchanted Forest with Hook to save their family from a new big bad.
1. Chapter 1

**Shattered Realms  
**

**Pairing: Emma Swan and Regina Mills – post season 3.11 Going Home. Set after the mid season finale so everything up until that point will be touched on. This is a Swan Queen Fic. **

**Chapter One**

_Magic filled the air, a dark purple fog erupted and enveloped her but instead of fearing it, she welcomed it like a long lost memory. _

_Her body ached, her finger tips reached and met warm skin, her mouth opened with a gasp and in seconds it was covered, quelling the sound beneath soft lips. _

_She still couldn't see anything but she could feel it and it filled her to the brim with mixed emotions, but the most prominent of all was longing._

"_**Emma..."**_ her name was whispered, the raspy, dulcet tones were all too familiar and her eyes sprang open, gone was her dream and in the early morning light that filtered in through her bedroom window, left with it a sense of loneliness. A void that was always ever present had returned.

She sighed softly, the ache in her chest was stronger this time and she pressed her fingers against the skin encasing her heart and closed her eyes.

It took her a moment to compose herself, she sniffled a little and sighed once more and abruptly shot off the bed, discarding the covers and opened the window letting in the frigid Manhattan winter air.

She didn't know why she was here, in this city, of all the places in the world she felt an affinity with yet she had never been here. So she had landed here, like a lost bird finding its way back to its nest, just Henry and her. But she hadn't been able to shake that feeling, in the last twelve years... that she was missing something.

Yes, she was an orphan but that wasn't what she felt like was missing, in this city, that feeling was suppressed somewhat and in the last couple of days since that... for the lack of better word, _pirate _had shown up her dreams had gotten more and more vivid. The feeling that she was missing half of her self, half a body part, was becoming more and more prominent.

She peered down from their fourth floor apartment and down the fire escape to where the snow had settled on the concrete below and a brisk chill ran through her. Thank God she didn't have work this weekend.

A brisk breeze ran through her, she shivered and closed the window, locking it firmly before padding over to her bedroom door, pulled her robe around her and headed to the kitchen to start breakfast.

The remnants of her dream were already beginning to fade slightly, but hovered below the surface, bits and pieces flashing up alternatively between adding butter to the pan and the eggs that she started to whisk.

She almost hit the ceiling when her son appeared out of nowhere and gave her a brief morning hug and at her reaction his eyebrows crossed.

"What's wrong, Ma?"

"Jesus!" She pressed a hand to her chest and reached out to squeeze his shoulder, "Kid! Dude, you almost gave me a heart attack."

"I realize that," He stopped, "But why?"

"I was thinking about something," Her eyes softened, "Sorry," She paused again, "Can you...?"

"Water the plants?" He finished and she nodded, "Sure."

He padded, very similarly to his mother, over to the plants by the window, "What were you thinking about?"

He broke into her thoughts again and she looked at him apologetically once more, she never ignored him that wasn't her thing, that wasn't their thing. As a parent she would like to think she was pretty cool, sometimes she still had no idea but she was getting by and Henry was moderately sane considering it was her raising him, he could be much worse.

"Ma," He broke in again, it wasn't like her to be so... distracted.

"What?" Emma glanced over her shoulder at her son, he was almost up to her shoulders now and she stared wistfully at him, remembering when he barely graced her knees.

"What's up with you?" He asked again, this time he was back in front of her, the watering can was already back its spot on the window sill having already completed his task.

"Nothing, sorry," He didn't look convinced, "honestly kid, nothing is wrong or up with me or whatever, I guess I just haven't been sleeping well the last couple of days."

He frowned but didn't pursue the conversation any further, he knew when to push things when his mother was tired and if she was going to tell him, she would tell him in her own time. He pondered what could possibly be the reason why she wasn't sleeping and that's when he noticed her staring at the pan, smoke coming from the stove. He looked at her quickly, her eyes were completely glazed over and she had totally gone somewhere else.

"Mom!" He yelled, rushing over and moving the pan off the burner, when she didn't react immediately he ditched the pan into the sink, quickly filling it with water until steam hissed into the air in front of them. Turning the faucet off he rotated back around to his mother and grasping her arms, he shook her a little, waiting for a reaction as worry set in.

"What?" She asked, she felt completely disorientated, like she had skipped time or passed out or something. She looked at the sink and grimaced, "Ah, man..."

"Yeah," Henry sighed, "Ma, don't worry about breakfast, I can have cereal and juice, why don't you go back to bed?"

"I can't..." Emma started, to be cut off by her _almost_ teenage son, though sometimes she swore he was more like twelve going on thirty.

"Yes," Henry sighed, "You can. You're obviously exhausted."

"Okay," She muttered, still somewhat disorientated, "Maybe I'm coming down with something..." She whispered quietly, almost to herself, but her son having heard simply frowned.

He walked to the fridge, retrieved a bottle of cold water and handed it to the blonde. He watched her stand still for a moment before he physically turned his mother around and ushered her back towards her bedroom.

"Go," Henry stated.

"Yes, going," She sighed softly, scratching the side of her disheveled head and shuffled back into her bedroom, suppressing a yawn. Maybe she would catch a little bit more sleep while she was at it, maybe this time without dreaming.

She didn't fall asleep right away, she more like daydreamed a while, flashing back to pieces of her dream. She could hear Henry from her room, attempting to be fairly quiet as he got his breakfast sorted, she then heard the TV as it was switched on and the volume promptly turned down.

She'd opened the window when she had come in, hoping the cool air would stave off some of the strange dreams but she just found herself to be cold, so she got up, closed it and returned to her bed, pulling her blankets up to her chin.

Turning on her side, she pulled her arm up underneath her soft pillow and curled into a ball feeling the warmth seep in as she started to drift off.

_She felt like she was alone, but there was a sense also that she wasn't, she was nowhere yet she was everywhere. The purple fog filled the room again, she looked around quickly trying to determine where she was but it was all jumbled. Flashes of different places, first what looked like a jail cell, a desk with a hot cup off steaming coffee on it, the next image was of a run down looking apartment with chipped white paint on the walls. The walls morphed then into a stair way filled with pictures but she couldn't make out the faces, then she was submerged into complete darkness, she felt like she was drowning almost, she reached for her throat, pawing at it. _

_She suddenly felt warm, like someone had wrapped themselves around her, at first it felt like they were holding her down, keeping her from fighting or fleeing but then she realized the grip was gentle. This was an embrace..._

_She started to calm then a little, the soft smell of musk, roses and apples wafting around her, instantly she softened within the grip. She sighed._

"_Emma..." The deep raspy voice called to her again, this time it whispered in her ear, she felt the arms around her tighten a little but it didn't scare her... in fact the opposite, it calmed her even more. _

"_Who are you?" She breathed, but there was no response, all she could feel were the arms wrapped around her and she found herself floating yet grounded at the same time, "Who are you?" She tried again but was still met with silence._

"_Emma... you have to wake up."_

"_**Who **__are you?" She asked again, though she could barely hear herself. _

"_You have to wake up," The same raspy voice responded, "Emma... I __**need**__ you..."_

_She was about to respond when she felt her whole body jarring, her world rocked sideways and upwards in a haze..._

"Ma!" Henry said firmly, "You have to wake up."

"Huh? What?" Emma bolted upright, like she had been burnt, accidentally sending her son flying backwards a short ways to avoid being in the crossfire, "Oh, geez, Henry... I'm sorry!"

"It's okay..." Henry replied gently, "Ma, there's someone here to see you."

"Who?" She countered, rubbing her eyes, she still felt like she hadn't slept.

"He..." Henry started, "Ma, he wants to talk to you..."

"That still doesn't tell me who **he **is, kid," She yawned, pulling the covers off her she could still feel the dampness on the back of her neck as she climbed out of bed, "It's not anyone from work?"

"No, definitely not anyone from work," He said slowly, but still refused to answer her.

She looked at him closely before heading out towards the front door but stopped abruptly when she found who he was talking about sitting on her sofa. _That bloody pirate, shit! He let him in! Fuck! _

"Henry!" She yelled, "Who the fuck are you?!" She shuffled sideways carefully, heading towards her hallway shelf, she kept a piece in there for emergencies on a high enough shelf that her son would not be able to reach it.

"Woah, calm down love," He held his hands up calmly, "I mean you no harm."

"_Bullshit!_ I remember the last time I saw you. Henry!" She yelled over her shoulder, making sure she knew the whereabouts of her son, he was behind her and then he was in front of her, between his mother and the stranger, "Kid, what are you doing?!" She quickly lowered the nozzle of her gun so it faced the ground.

"Ma, it's okay," Henry replied, calmly, he had expected her to react to the fact that he had let a stranger in the house but not like this.

"The hell it is, what the hell is wrong with you? You don't even know this man," She peered closer, "Do you?"

"Ma," He sighed softly, "He has something important to tell you, just... just calm down okay?"

"Listen to your son, Swan," The stranger piped up, "You know me, you both know me... you just don't remember that you know me."

"That doesn't even make any freaking sense dude!" Emma screeched, her eyes wide but her tone threatening.

"Well I guess I better state my case quickly then, before you blow me out the door with your tiny cannon," He laughed when he saw Emma's eyes go wider and the look she followed with, he quickly stopped, Emma stepped round her son and lifted the pistol once more.

"I can prove it," He said softly as his eyes looked down the barrel of the gun and into the enchanting green eyes across from him, "Your blanket."

"What?"She whispered, had she not been so close he wouldn't have heard her.

"Your blanket," He repeated, "The one you have had all your life, the one that your parents wrapped you in, the one that you have kept hidden away with all your things. The one you never talk about," He stopped a second and still seeing the sinking look in her eyes as the shock set in, "The one that has your name embroidered into it."

"You've… how?" She uttered, shaking her head she lowered the pistol, "Nobody knows that…"

"Ma?" Henry asked, having remained quiet the entire time, he knew his mother wouldn't hurt the man but he had been on tenterhooks the entire time watching the emotions that had run riot across her face.

"I'm sorry," She replied, "Oh gods," she switched the safety back on the weapon and placed it back on the shelf and moved swiftly over to her son, "Oh God, Henry, I'm sorry."

He didn't say a word, just wrapped his arms around her waist and held her.

She closed her eyes, tears built up behind her eyes threatening to fall, but she wouldn't let them. She inhaled deeply, pressed a kiss to her son's head and pulled away.

"Okay," She looked to Hook, "I believe you a little, mainly because nobody but Henry knows about that blanket and he has only ever seen it once in his life. But that doesn't mean I believe every crazy thing that comes out of your mouth."

"Well," Hook breathed, "that's a start. I can work with that."

"Now how are we going to get there?" Henry piped up.

"What?" Emma looked to Henry.

"There's more, ma, those stories that you told me growing up. The fairy tales… they're all real," Henry's faced remained bright, his cheeks flushed and his eyes twinkled.

"Henry…" She started but was promptly interrupted.

"No," Hook responded, "He is right. It might seem crazy, but I have come to realize that there is nothing normal in this world. One of the things being to you people, that there are a lot more crazier things than believing that beloved stories are real and not only that…" He stopped and looked her straight in the eye, knowing this part would be the bit she wanted to believe in the most, "That you have a family."

"I have a family already, right here…" Emma replied.

"Fine," Hook sighed, "You have parents. You're not an orphan or a lost girl and your parents, they love you. They love you more than you know."

She pressed her fingers to her temple, a headache was starting to form, there was too much information to take in and she was starting to feel sick.

"Swan, are you alright?" Hook asked, shuffling forward until Emma held up a hand the intention very clear.

"This is just a lot to take in," She responded as she wrapped her arms around Henry's shoulders as he took a seat beside her on the couch.

"I know," Her son began, "But we have people that need help, family that needs help…"

"Henry…" She said softly, "This is crazy…"

"I have been having strange dreams that I haven't told anyone about, he was in them," He gestured to the pirate, "I have never seen that man in my life before except when I'm asleep. How do you explain that?"

"I don't know," Emma replied.

"Not to mention, that he knew about your blanket and I swear… I did not tell him, look at me, you know when I'm lying. Use your power on him, is he lying to you?" Henry finished, looking imploringly into his mother's eyes.

He could see her resolve was slipping and he knew she was coming round but he hated seeing his mother look like that.

She removed her arm from around his shoulders and sighed. She would go along with this until the crazy train became too much… but if it was true, she wouldn't be what Hook had so aptly put and oftentimes thought of herself as, a lost girl.

"Alright," She said softly, "What do we do?"

"Do you have everything?" Hook asked, the pair had gathered up a handful of things between them.

"What else but a change of clothes do we need for an adventure into a book into a fairytale land that a _pirate _insists is where we're from?" Emma replied sardonically.

"You're from there, Henry isn't," Hook automatically responded.

"What?" Henry butted in.

"You were born here, mate. That's a good thing trust me, means you travel better without forgetting anything," He winked at the kid.

"Great," Emma rolled her eyes, "am I gonna vomit?"

"You might feel a little iffy," Hook answered, "but that's alright love, you can hold on to me if you need to," causing the blonde to glare at him, "or not."

"You're lucky you convinced me this far and the only reason that I'm doing this, is because its for Henry. If you want this crazy, crazy adventure to happen,you need to bite your tongue on **any **and **all **comments of that nature, you hear me?" She practically snarled at him, causing him to swallow nervously.

"I hear you and I will do my best."

"Well, that'll have to do for now," She sighed, "Now how are we getting to this "_enchanted forest"_ that we so desperately need to get to?"

"With this," he fussed with a pouch strapped to his belt for a second with his one hand and produced what looked like an anemic bean.

"Oh joy," Emma replied sarcastically, "We're going to grow a beanstalk aren't we?"

"You're funny," Hook countered, "but no. It will open a portal," at Emma's disbelieving look he gestured to the curtains, "Do you mind mate?"

Henry rushed quickly and pulled closed the dark charcoal grey drapes making sure that no light could be seen through, he also reached behind and pulled the blinds down.

"Okay, so this is a bit different to before," He looked at Emma, forgetting himself for a moment, "Nevermind, you don't remember. Away we go then?"

"Wait!" Emma exclaimed, turning back to her book shelf and pulling the pistol off the shelf and stuffing into her bag. She checked the one she had inside her jacket and then pulled one of the books off the shelf to reveal an ammo case before putting that into her bag too.

"Uh…" Hook raised his eyebrows.

"What?" Emma's eyebrows knitted together, "I have a permit."

"That's not really going to make a difference in the Enchanted Forest, love," He sighed, when she didn't relinquish the weapon he sighed.

"I'm not going anywhere without them," She stated seriously.

"Okay," Realizing this was one fight he wasn't going to win with the blonde, he looked to Henry, "Ready?"

Emma grabbed her son then, pulling him closer to her by his backpack and then patted down the collar of his coat.

Seconds later, not having seen Hook throw the bean to the floor, there was a swirling mass of black, objects in the room started to drag towards its center and her mouth figuratively hit the floor.

"Do you believe me more now?" Hook yelled over the whooshing of the portal, Emma was speechless, "Come on then, all together now?"

Henry took her hand then and looked to Hook, squeezed her fingers between his as they all jumped on three.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

They landed with a loud thump, heads spinning but the whooshing sound that had accompanied their travels had gone with the portal.

Emma shook her head to clear the dizziness and looked to her son who was still gripping her hand tightly, he too disorientated.

Hook, however, had managed to land on his feet and with a cocky grin stated,  
"You'll get used to it."

She almost slapped him, then and there but all she could muster was a small glare as she stood pulling Henry up with her. Immediately she started brushing the dirt off the front of his dark brown jacket and he started whining at her ministrations.

"It's all good, Ma," He smiled up at Hook, "Wow!"

"Right?" Hook responded, "It is a bit of a head rush until you get used to it."

"I hope we don't get too used to it," Emma muttered, frowning a little as she looked to the border of the trees stretched out in front of her. The breeze was cool and they had landed during daylight hours, to which she was thankful.

A bird flew overhead and the skies were a bright cerulean, there were pink blossoms on the trees, a squirrel scurried along the ground in front of her and collected its treasure before scurrying back to its tree. This place, this surreal, completely fictional place really was a fairytale. That in itself, made her feel lost in Oz in comparison to the big city that they lived in.

"Well, Toto," She grabbed Henry by the lapels for emphasis, "We are definitely **not **in Kansas any more."

"Very funny, Ma," Her son replied rolling his eyes, "Though I wonder..."

"Don't start," Emma warned, "You barely got me here. And I do not want to deal with that _Wicked Witch of The West_."

Hook raised one of his eyebrows, pulled his namesake from within his long leather coat and placed it back on his stump with an audible sigh of relief.

Emma and Henry stared for a moment, before the man himself sauntered forward towards the edge of the forest, gesturing with his good hand for them to follow.

"Right, we need to get moving, follow me."

The further into the forest they got, the more noticeably the color drained from the surroundings, the majestic pinks, purples and rich greens started to fade like someone had taken a water soaked paint brush and thinned out the pigments in the nature around them.

The air got thicker and heavier the further they went in and when Emma voiced this, both Henry and Hook looked at her, but the pirate was the one that answered her.

"The magic," He started, "that was here, has been sucked dry. The power in this land, the most powerful at the moment..." The dark haired man faltered in his speech but continued walking, "The Queen is taking the magic from everything, including the land. When she cast the curse the first time, which you broke," He looked at Emma emphatically, "the land that we came back to was dying, what magic was left... well... since she took over rule again... she has literally sucked the life out of everything."

"Who is this '_Queen_' that you're talking about?" Emma asked, holding another branch out of the way for her son.

"Her name is Regina," Hook responded, "She used to rule this land before the curse... she was The Evil Queen."

"Wait, which one?" Henry countered, his voice lilting upwards with excitement, the dangers unbeknownst to him and what lay waiting for them all could be their eventual deaths.

"What do you mean?" Hook asked, his thick eyebrows knitting together.

"Well, which character is she?" He asked again, Emma placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down, worried that her son might offend the present company considering he was evidently a very real person but in their home world, he was fictional.

"Sorry," Emma looked apologetically at the pirate, to which he responded with a shrug.

"I guess the answer to the lad's question, would be that she is Snow White's Step-Mother," He hesitated, "But in the cursed world, where you both knew her before... she was the Mayor... she was your mother, boy."

"Wowa... hold on there!" Emma stopped dead in her tracks, "Now I know you're lying, _**I'm**_ his mother."

"Well yeah," Hook nodded, "You're definitely still his birth mother, but you gave him up for adoption, Regina adopted him and raised him as her own until his tenth birthday, which is when he went to find you."

"No, no, no," The blonde shook her head emphatically, her blonde curls flying in all directions and she grasped possessively onto Henry's arm, "That's not possible because I did not give him up. _**I**_raised him."

"I'm not meaning to upset you, love," He cringed when he saw the fire within the emerald depths and he swallowed audibly, "You wanted me to be honest with you didn't you? And you are going to remember sooner rather than later, if you would rather I skip over bits, it will make it a bit difficult to tell you what is going on if you don't know the blanks leading up to this point. Ya know?"

"If you want us to continue on this... this... whatever this is, then yes, I need you to be honest, but you tell me these are not my memories, but they have to be okay?" Emma stated clearly, her voice cracked for a moment, the words left unsaid were pretty clear... her memories of raising Henry had been her only happy memories. To tell her that they were all a lie, that they planted, were fake or whatever else, would be to crush her existence and at that moment, what she needed to remain strong, was to keep those.

"Okay," He answered, "Well, Regina cast the curse and into the town of Storybrooke everyone went. Regina became Mayor, ruled the town, you broke the curse there is a lot of other stuff in between that which we will get into later. But since returning, to this land, it was like... she changed... that she became more power hungry than before. She imprisoned Snow and everyone, not quite sure what happened to some people in there. Tink and I barely escaped..."

"Tink?" Henry asked, "As in Tinkerbell?"

"Yes," Hook acknowledged, "These ogres marched on the castle, which is why we don't have to worry about them, they're guarding the castle grounds as Regina is controlling them by magic."

Emma shook her head, surely she had not heard that right but upon the straight expression she received from her look of skepticism she realized that he was in fact very serious. _What have I gotten us into?_

"Anyway," Hook started again, "there is more to come," he held his hand up in a gesture for them to stop as he pointed to the first line of rope along the ground, "Step over that won't you because you will regret it and you know, we need you."

"God forbid anything would happen to us," Emma replied sarcastically and dramatically stepped over the twine, "What is that anyway?"

"That is one of Tink's border defense for our camps, quite inventive is the fairy," Hook smiled, there was something almost proud in that grin and Emma made a mental note to pursue that at a later time.

"Seriously?" Emma raised an eyebrow.

"Don't test it," Hook answered solemnly and pulled up his shirt showing a muscular abdomen that was adorned by a couple of recent healing welts.

"Ahhh," She cringed, "Yeah, okay. As long as it will keep my kid safe..."

"That it will, love," He answered automatically, "Don't doubt Tink's devices, trust me, it pisses her off," He grinned again.

"I'll take your word for it," Emma answered dropping into step behind him.

"Hook?!" A short blonde figure with raggedy thick hair threw herself at the pirate somewhat ungracefully for a supposed fairy, "You're back!"

"Yes," He replied and he gave her a brief but somewhat intimate hug, "We are."

"We?" She smiled and leaned around him to stare at the pair, "Yes! You!" Emma raised her eyebrows in response, "Oh, Emma! Henry! Now you're here surely we can make it right!"

"Uh, yeah... sure," Emma responded and then sighed softly, she looked to the horizon and noticed the darkening of the blues turning into pinks and orange as the sun set.

"Forgive me," Tinkerbell replied, "You must be hungry and you need your rest, its a big day tomorrow."

"Yeah, I am hungry!" Henry responded just as his stomach rumbled.

"Oh! Yes!" the shorter blonde squealed and gestured to the make shift table she had created, "We don't have much to offer but we have bread and cheese which is better than chimera!"

"Chimera?" Emma asked.

"You used to call it slop," Hook answered, shooting her a dazzling smile.

"Ahhh, then I think I'll pass on that then, bread and cheese sounds good, eh kid?" She appraised her son for a moment and she could see how tired he was from the day's walk the evidence being the bags that had developed under his eyes as he stifled a yawn, "Alright, have something to eat and then I think we sleep."

"Sounds good to me," The kid replied, rubbing the back of his hand against his eyelids as he sat down.

"So, how was your journey?" The fairy asked, seating herself down beside the other blonde.

"Uh..." Emma mumbled around a mouthful of bread, "Alright?"

"Amazing!" Henry piped up, his voice dripping with unadulterated excitement which the three found amusing considering how tired he was.

"Amazing huh?" Tinkerbell countered, "What made it amazing?"

"The portal, Hook, the forest!" He rushed out in one breath, "Just, **everything**!" They laughed at his exuberance as Emma patted his back.

"I'm glad I rated up there," Hook replied, never having been a notable reason in anyone's joy before he felt a sense of pride swell up within him.

"Well yeah! You're the reason we came here in the first place and its so cool like knowing fairytale characters and... ow!" Henry reached down rubbing his shin while looking at his mother.

Emma gave him a look, "Oh... yeah, sorry," The boy hung his head still continuing to rub the place where his mother's foot had connected with his leg.

"It's okay, boy, I kind of feel quite famous knowing I'm well known in your land," He smiled smugly, causing both blonde's to roll their eyes.

"Don't get too excited," Emma piped up, "You're not exactly a dashing pirate in our world."

"So you think I'm dashing?" The pirate replied, wiggling his thick eyebrows at the woman.

"That's what you take from that? Seriously?" She responded incredulously, "Is he always like this?" She turned her question to Tinkerbell.

"Yes, pretty much," The shorter woman answered nonchalantly.

"Well, when you've got it," Hook rubbed his knuckles on his leather jacket and before he could blink, Emma had stood and shoved a piece of bread in his mouth.

"Give that a chew for a while, your head got a little big," Emma smirked.

Tinkerbell laughed and they continued back and forth between their bickering until they noticed that Henry had gone quiet.

They looked over, the teenager had his head slumped over his hands on the table, a half eaten piece of bread and cheese in one hand.

"Well... I guess that's our cue," The taller blonde stated, "Do you... have um... anything?"

"To sleep on?" Tink asked at the other blonde's nod her expression fell, "Not really, no, but I do have some blankets to keep you warm."

Tinkerbell disappeared into the brush and then returned moments later with a couple of blankets. Emma thanked her, woke Henry and helped him get settled, he was back out asleep in a matter of moments.

"We will be just over here," Hook nodded towards a quiet covering of trees just to the side of them but within view.

"Okay," The taller blonde responded, nodding at the pair as she watched them walk away as she herself settled down next to her son. It wasn't long before she drifted off into a deep sleep.

–- -

_The purple fog surrounded her again, enveloping her but instead of the voice she had become accustomed to hearing along with it the smoke faded out and she watched as a scene unfurled before her._

_She screamed, bolted upright only to be blasted down again by an unseen force, she tried again and this time succeeded. She lunged at the fairly short, dark haired woman with what could only be described as a pixie cut and shoved her out of the way._

_She was right in front of her in seconds after she heard the smaller woman land meters away from them both, the older, attractive brunette looked straight at her then and Emma tore her gaze from the deep brown eyes down to her chest. The woman's hand was inside her chest... __**inside**__ it... with a strange ethereal purple glow._

_The woman grinned broadly from ear to ear and she looked back up into those impenetrable chromatic orbs,  
"Oh you foolish girl!" the woman laughed, "Don't you know? Love is weakness."_

_The other woman's fingers tightened around her heart, her chest spasmed sending jolts of pain outwards, she could physically feel the delicate hand squeezing and pulling at her heart inside her chest, she felt her breath shorten and she started to get dizzy._

_But as the older woman attempted to retract her hand, it wouldn't move, it was like her hand was stuck in mud and the more she pulled the harder it was to draw her hand back. _

_The shock ran through her and seemed to express itself on the older woman's doll like face, Emma felt suddenly like she was a tightly coiled spring and she stood up a little straighter, pushing through the pain._

"_No," She breathed, "It's __**strength**__," internally she felt herself unwind, a sharp pulse flooded her and pushed the older woman violently backwards into the sand. _

Emma bolted upright at the same time that she saw a blast of light send the other blonde backwards into the nearest tree.

She felt a strange burning sensation throughout her body and immediately got to her feet just as the fairy landed on the ground with a loud thump and a groan.

"What the hell was that? What were you doing?!" Emma screamed.

"Wowa!" Hook was suddenly there, standing defensively in front of Tinkerbell, "You're okay, Swan. Everything is fine."

"The _**hell **_it is! What the _**hell **_were you doing?" The taller blonde tried again, she could feel the anger coming off her in waves and she knew they must have too, she went to take another step towards the pair just as her son moved in front of her.

"Ma!" Henry placed his hands on his mother's shoulder's and kept talking until she would look at him, "It's okay."

"Henry..." She looked into the green eyes that were so like her own and took a calming breath, she didn't like it when he saw her angry.

"It's okay, I'm sure they will explain everything," Her son turned his head and look pointedly at the other two, "Won't you?" At their affirmative nods, he glanced back to his mother, "We're fine, they weren't going to hurt you, you know this."

"Okay," she breathed, "Explain yourselves."

Tinkerbell was still rubbing at her back as she cautiously watched the blonde move to sit at the table. The flickering of the torches surrounding the tables cast eerie shadows over the makeshift furniture, not lending itself to the uneasiness that enclosed Emma, as she too seated herself.

"There is another thing you need to know," Tinkerbell said.

"What was the last thing I said to you about keeping stuff from me?" Emma interrupted, then took another calming breath as she watched Henry sit beside her and take one of her hands in his own.

"I know," Hook answered, "But this was the only way you would believe us," he stood to Tinkerbell's right, his good hand placed over her shoulder.

"Be more specific," Emma replied bluntly.

"Well," Tinkerbell tried again, clearing her throat, "Your dream, the woman..."

"You were in my dreams?!" The taller blonde stood again but at the smaller hand that was placed on her elbow, she sighed and sat down once more.

"Well, not entirely, I... um... I planted the memory in there..." The fairy answered and looked directly into the other woman's green eyes, "Cora, her name is Cora."

"This Cora, she tried to rip my heart out, in my dream... that you say is a memory," Emma replied, Henry's hold on her tightened and she squeezed it back in reassurance.

"Yes, she was known as The Queen of Hearts, it was her trademark so to speak. But that is not why I planted the memory, I know it was intrusive but the only way you would believe in yourself, believe in your magic, is by doing it. The only way you would do it, is if you believe in it and in yourself. Do you understand now?" Tinkerbell finished but her gaze was unwavering as she waited for Emma to process.

They were right and they would have only known that if they had known her, maybe all this was true, maybe the life she had lived with Henry was a lie... she felt her heart break in that instance, wondering then, if she remembered everything of what they were talking about... if her life with Henry would just fade away and what she would have been without him. She looked at him then, taking in his unruly hair that was far too long and lots of memories of him growing up flashed before her eyes. She wondered where they had come from, wondered if they had actually happened, what she was going to be like, what was going to happen after saving this world and their life together.

"Ma?" Henry brought her back to the present, "I'm not going anywhere, you know that right?"

"I know," Her voice broke as she said it, "Like hell I would let you go anywhere anyway," her tone was tenacious and only he could see the tears that had developed briefly in her eyes, sniffing she turned to the other two at the table, "You better spill anything else now because if I have any more surprises and I mean **any** more, even the **tiniest** of secrets and any crap that comes about from it... I am telling you now I will find another way to leave this behind and go back to our home. You hear me?"

"We hear you," Tinkerbell answered seriously, "Look, Emma... you don't have to worry about losing Henry..."

"I don't?" Emma asked plaintively.

"No," The shorter blonde smiled, "You don't. If this all works and hopefully it will... Henry is still your son and always will be... the memories that you share now, from what I heard... kind of blend with who you were... and you will have all your family together."

Emma sighed softly, reaching over she ruffled her sons hair, her demeanor changing greatly and she smiled at the boy.

"And there isn't anything else, I promise," Tinkerbell said.

"Good," Emma replied bluntly, "Now, how long before dawn?"

"About an hour," The fairy answered.

"Hear that kid? You get an extra hour of sleep, go take it," She nodded with her head back towards where he had recently been snoring away, he got the hint and removed himself from the table just as Emma turned back to Tinkerbell, "Now, tell me what that was."

"Magic... your magic and you're gonna need it," Tinkerbell replied, her eyes glimmering.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I want to take this time to thank all that have reviewed, I really appreciate it! And I hope you enjoy reading it. Don't worry, keep reading but that's all I will say without giving away too much! :) Please review after this chapter. :) **

Chapter 3

"_Magic... your magic and you're gonna need it," Tinkerbell replied, her eyes glimmering._

"Okay, that's all well and good but how do I know if its gonna work?" Emma asks, looking from Tinkerbell to Hook and back again, she was starting to feel very nervous.

"Can you feel that energy in the pit of your stomach?" The fairy asks randomly, causing the other blonde's eyebrows to scrunch up.

"Yeah... I guess," the Saviour replies.

"Focus on it, it kind of feels like a nervous energy really, like you have butterflies in your stomach when you're around someone you like except that you know... you're not like..."

"Tink..." Hook starts realizing she is about to go off on a tangent.

"Oh yeah, like you're not attracted to that person but like that they make you nervous?" She asks.

"Oh..." Emma closes her eyes then, focuses and she can feel that energy spread through her body, it spread quickly, like she had done it before, "Okay. I feel it."

"Now... like... do something..." Tinkerbell answered.

"Oh yeah, what so I just wish for a cup of coffee..." Emma began with a sardonic tone only to be cut off.

"That's an awesome idea!" The other woman bounced on the spot and grinned manically, "That's perfect. Won't expend you too much and will probably help."

"Okay..." Emma smirked a little but she did feel the butterflies spread themselves out further and heavier across her body, "What do I do?"

"Imagine it... feel it," Tinkerbell replied, her eyes glittering.

"Okay," Emma breathed and closed her eyes. She imagined a warm cup between her hands, the steam coming off the top, the awesome taste of that French Vanilla she liked so much from the cafe around the corner of their New York apartment. She could even smell it and at that, she could feel a warmth between her hands develop and she slowly opened her eyes when there was a squeal.

"I told you!" Tinkerbell grinned again but watched as Emma's gaze went from amused to shocked. There in her grasp, was a hot cup of coffee in a disposable Dixie cup with her name written on the side of it.

"Holy, freaking hell!" The blonde whispered and from behind her she heard Henry laugh.

"Can I have some?" He ventured.

"No way in hell, you don't drink coffee," She answered, still staring at the cup she was holding.

"Maybe I need to start? After all, look what's going on?" He tried again, coming to sit beside her he gestured emphatically with his hands at the forest around them and he had obviously been feigning sleep the entire time.

"Okay, fine, but let me go first," She rescinded and carefully brought the steaming beverage to her mouth, she took a long sniff and sighed softly. She blew threw the hole in the plastic cover and carefully tilted the container, the hot beverage burned the top of her mouth slightly but she didn't care. She let out a loud appreciative groan and closed her eyes once more, "That's awesome."

"Okay, my turn!" Henry asked as he reached for the cup, she passed it over and then looked to the other two.

"That's all I need to do?" She asked.

"Well, kind of. Depends on the situation I guess... but we have an idea first," Tinkerbell replied.

"What's that?" She answered.

"Oh my gods, Ma, that's just awesome!" Henry buzzed.

"Give me that!" Emma growled, swiping at her child and taking the rest back before offering to the pair in front of her who turned her down, "I'm not gonna say I'm not grateful for that. So what's the rest of the plan?"

"So you, me and your boy will head over to the castle, you will cloak us with magic and we will get into the dungeons. You kiss Neal, one big happy ending, curse broken," Hook explains and then grins emphatically.

"So this whole thing is relying on me?" Emma replies after spitting coffee from her mouth at the admission.

"Well..." Tinkerbell starts only to be cut off.

"No, no, no... it can't... I just poofed in a cup of coffee how do you know I can make us all invisible!" She exclaims.

"Ma," Henry says simply, "You've got this."

"How do you know?" She asks, feeling herself start to calm down.

"Because you just poofed a cup of coffee in from our favourite corner house... that's why."

"But that doesn't mean I can cloak us and do you know where this dungeon is?" Emma asked, her tone had lilted again and she could feel the panic again.

"Aye, I do... been in them before," upon Emma's raised eyebrow he also added, "And found my way out of them."

Emma remained quiet before mumbling quietly,  
"Are we sure I can do this?"

"I have seen your magic work before... I know you can do this," Hook answered more confidentially, "You've got this Swan."

Emma sighed softly,  
"I hope you're right."

- -

The rest of the morning flew by quickly and before they knew it they were all in a clearing right outside the entrance to the Queen's castle, they could see the Ogre's and Troll's milling about inside the courtyard, the wooden gates wide open.

Emma commented on the stupidity of this but the other two noted that who would storm a castle with monsters guarding it? She frowned, only to have them reassure her that the beasts were not well endowed with brains, that trickery was the smartest tool so this is why Emma's magical cloaking was the best plan.

She sighed softly and took Hook's one hand on her left and took Henry's with her right, just as the Pirate was about to speak with a cocky grin plastered to his face, Emma stilled him with a look and his mouth closed comically.

"Okay, here goes..." She takes a deep breath, letting that tingling sensation wash over her and imagines them disappearing into the scenery like Tinkerbell had guided her.

"It worked," The blonde fairy whispered, "It really worked..." she squealed quietly.

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," Emma mumbled.

"Oh I had every belief you could do it, Emma, I was just hoping you had enough faith in yourself," The shorter blonde replied, "Now good luck, the sooner you get in there, the sooner you get out. I will watch you go in from here."

They walked steadily towards the gates then, in through the cracked arched opening, the castle grounds had started to disintegrate with all the rough usage of its patrons and they all visibly sucked in a breath as they walked past a giant sleeping beast slumped against the exterior masonry. Its breaths rumbling the ground beneath them and disguising their footsteps on the cobblestones they walked on. A long line of drool trailed from its fungus ridden mouth down to his dark green, slimed shoulder and a loud snort erupted from it followed by a slurping noise as it was sucked back into his mouth.

The blonde's face screwed up in disgust but at a pull from Hook she turned to keep walking, carefully bypassing the two trolls that were bickering over a pile of gold coins on the table in front of them.

From above a dark haired woman, in her bed chambers shivered softly as she felt on the reaches of her finger tips an energy, a prickling of sorts and a slow smile brought itself to her beautiful plump lips.

She turned, black gown swishing on the ornate floor and she moved out to her balcony overlooking her courtyard. She sighed, dark orbs searching the surrounding area, not seeing anything out of place until a glimmer out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.

She stares at it a moment longer, her body humming, her eyes know that they are being deceived but she continues to stare at that spot by the decaying apple tree.

It was then that Emma saw it and she could tell it used to be a centerpiece, a gloriously beautiful now crumbled, shrunken, decrepit and almost black stump of its former self and she felt herself drawn to it, against the others wishes they were dragged towards it.

She can't shake the feeling of dread that fills her and she moves hers and Henry's joined hands to touch the charred bark before her, Hook demandingly shaking her other hand beside her and whispering her name repeatedly before she mutters quietly, "Something isn't right..."

The hair on the back of her neck stands up, goose pimples run the length of her arm and she can feel a slight hum coming from inside the tree in front of her, _it's not dead... yet_, but it still doesn't feel right. She shivers.

"Emma, it doesn't matter... we've got to go," The Pirate hisses, his dark head turning from side to side watching the beasts around them nervously.

"Ma..." Henry shakes their entwined hands and it was then that a loud growl is emitted from a nearby Troll, unintelligible yelling and then one of the pair that had been arguing over coinage was thrown across the courtyard.

Ogres start fighting all about them, everything flying madly and Emma feels the shock of it hit her system and suddenly there are dulcet human tones echoing across the grounds to their ears.

"Enough!" They look up at the brunette, Hook muttering something as they three realize she is looking straight at them and so are the beasts around them, "You!" she points to the troll closest to them as he growls at his new prey, "Bring them to me."

Emma and Hook automatically push Henry behind them, Hook lifting his monicker and Emma pulls her gun from her waist.

"That really isn't going to..." But he is cut off as magic has the weapon pulled from her finger tips and magicked into dust before their widened eyes.

The brunette above them laughs and disappears in a cloud of red smoke, the trolls grabbing them none too gently and dragging them up to the grand castle doors.

They were pulled through dark corridors, shades over all the windows to hide the light and she only just managed to grab the back of her son's jacket to reassure herself that he was okay.

Finally they were thrown unceremoniously to the floor in front of a large ostentatious marble throne as if being offered up for slaughter, the trolls sniggered softly behind them as they closed the doors in on them, guarding their only way out bar the small window behind the grand chair.

The dark haired woman that had ordered their capture shivers pleasurably in front of them, her hair pulled tight but the tail of it wraps around her shoulders, slopes down and hangs beautifully at her hips. She smiles and there is a glint within chocolate orbs as she slowly, step by step, moves towards them.

Hook watches closely, there is joy in the other woman's stance and he peers closer at the Queen as she moves ever closer and then opens his mouth to speak,  
"Regina..."

The Queen's dark eyes flash to him, she flicks a hand casually, he stills in his actions and then slowly turns to the blonde who she can feel magic radiating from.

"_**Who**_ are _**you**_? And _**what**_ do you _**want **_in _**my **_Kingdom?" Her tones are dulcet, husky and almost recognizable as Emma's eyes instantly squint, her brows furrowing but she doesn't say anything and then as the brunette moves closer her body involuntarily trembles. She can feel something coming off the other woman an energy of sorts and very slowly she moves her son behind her defensively.

She stands up taller and almost defiantly she states,  
"What if I told you this was _**my**_ Kingdom and I have come back to claim it?"

The woman in front of her starts laughing, manically and she reaches with long fingers to touch the soft planes of the blonde's face only to find her hand batted away harshly.

She starts laughing again and looks up over the blonde's shoulder to the trolls behind them,  
"Take these two down to the dungeons," She gestures to the boy and the man carelessly and then trains her eyes back on the blonde as she attempts to defend her son.

"No! Henry!" Emma screamed, she turned abruptly from The Queen and thrust her arms out toward her son, suddenly though she feels her outstretched hand stilled. Replaced by a pulling feeling from her core, her screams died on her lips, her body dragged through air and almost delicately placed beside the throne.

"Ma! No! Ma!" Henry's screams are lost though as he is pulled roughly backwards, no match for the strength of the beast that holds him. A calloused hand is placed aggressively against his mouth while the other grabbed harshly at his arms causing both his feet to be pulled out from underneath him as he struggled.

The doors are slammed behind them then and at this point Emma could only hear Hook's voice but not the words he yelled as they are hauled down dark corridors.

Her green eyes flashed murderously as the brunette walked towards her.

"Well, now," Regina smiles, her chocolate eyes lighting up in amusement, "Now we can have some peace and quiet..."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So I found myself wanting to write this chapter like now, I know some of you got a little mad with me I could tell :P but don't worry and by the end of this Chapter you will probably have started to figure it out. Or at least I hope so. :) I hope you like this one and thanks for the reviews so far, please keep them coming. :)**

**Chapter 4**

It seemed like almost forever in comparison to the time it took for them to be dragged to the throne room as opposed to from. The trolls none to gentle in their treatment as they finally reached the dungeons and were tossed haphazardly like they were rag dolls into a dank, gloomy cell.

The smell that wafted up to them was of stale urine and sweat, Henry covered his nose momentarily as he fell into a puddle. He grumbled softly to himself and sighed a breath of relief when he realized it was simply mud.

Hook reached over after that, dragging him to his feet with one hand and checking him over,  
"You alright boy?"

"Y...yes..." He stuttered, "I just..." He sighed softly willing the water that was welling up behind his eyes to stop. He was too old to cry, too old to be scared... this behaviour was ridiculous.

"I know... we'll get her back somehow, I promise..." He watched as the boy physically shivered and his face fell, he removed his leather jacket then and offered it out to him, "Here... put this on."

"I... no, I can't, it's yours!" Henry insisted, pushing the weathered coat back towards the man.

"Look, we will take it in turns then... you first," Hook shook the jacket emphatically before physically wrapping it around his shoulders.

"Okay, thanks," Henry mumbled before moving to look at the rotten bench on the other side of the cell, it was in the light of the torch outside the pirate noted and he half smiled at the boy, "What happened up there? Wasn't she supposed to recognize us... me...?"

But before Hook could answer him a small voice whispered gently from the cell next to theirs,  
"Hook... Henry... is that you?"

"Snow!" Hook hissed quietly, shuffling to the front of their prison leaning as far out as possible without being noticed by their guards and noted porcelain features shrouded by dark tresses, "Snow..."

"Hook..." Snow breathed, her voice trailing off and from the catch in her voice he knew that she was trying to hold back tears, "Oh... Hook, please tell me you have Emma?"

"I'm sorry, M'Lady," He utters softly, he slowly moves fingers across the wall of the cell and the other woman reaches cautiously and squeezes them gently, "I don't... but Regina does."

"Oh no!" She whines softly, letting go of his hand as he watches her carefully lower herself to the ground and he follows suit if only to hear her better.

"Regina..." He starts to speak but again the dark haired woman interrupts.

"That's not Regina," She says quietly.

"I knew it!" He said a little louder than expected and hushes quietly when a growl from the corner is emitted from the troll, "She didn't recognize us... she didn't recognize Henry! She sent me and the boy here... I _**knew**_ it couldn't be her."

"Lots has happened since you and Tinkerbell left us," Snow sighs softly, her mind flashing back to six months ago when everything had started.

"I know... we were just leaving when everything happened, we only just managed to escape..." The Pirate whispered back, Henry taking the moment to shuffle over and sit on cold wet stone next to Hook so he could hear too.

"I'm so glad you did..." Snow sighed again, "We only just got into the castle when everything happened. She was already waiting for us... like she knew we would be here... then the trolls came and the ogres emerged from the forest..." She hesitated a moment trying to recall the events clearly, "It all happened so quickly, but everyone fought... I mean _**everyone**_... but Regina had used magic at the beginning, I shot two trolls with my bow that had come my way but didn't hear over the noise of the battle the one coming from behind... I was shoved then rather violently... and then Regina was there helping me up... and then _**she**_ came... she was really tall, dark ebony hair, I have never seen hair so dark or eyes as blue, she was _**very**_ striking to look at..." She trailed off softly, "She said her name was Lilith, that this kingdom was hers now... of course this instantly pissed Regina off and they blasted fire balls at one another before a continuous stream of magic came from the pair of them... I don't know how long that lasted... it felt like forever... but Regina... she wasn't strong enough or something... and then suddenly they were both gone... and we were all being grabbed and then we were here..."

Their voices quieted then as heavy foot falls announced their presence, Hook whispered quietly for Henry to shut his eyes and they all feigned sleep until the troll had moved on.

"Snow..." Hook asked after he made sure the troll was a safe distance away, "Where's David?"

"He... we were... I..." She stopped, took a deep breath and started again, "We were talking, he was trying to break out and the trolls they came and got him... they beat him in front of me and took him somewhere..." she sniffled quietly, rubbing at her eyes for a moment before continuing, "He is not dead though... I _**know**_ it... he is here _**somewhere**_."

"We will find him, we will get Emma back and we will get out of here..." Hook reassures her and hears Snow sigh again.

"I hope so, we have to fix this sooner rather than later," She replies.

"I completely agree with you because I think the longer we're down here the longer its going to take to get this smell out of my skin," Hook shivered visibly and looked over to the boy who smirked back at him, "We'll think of something to get us out of here."

"Well it needs to be quick because I really don't want to have my baby in the dungeons," She whispers quietly.

The pain was intense... so intense that with the light that is physically coming out of her from her fingertips her whole body felt like it was burning. Like someone was draining the marrow from her bones and even though the witch had taken the spell off of her so she could talk, she wouldn't give her the satisfaction of her screams.

She watches with dull green eyes that every time, what she can only assume is her magic, is drawn from her the woman across the room glows brighter.

Dark orbs blinked curiously at her then as she stops, lowering Emma to the ground carefully as to not to mar pale skin and moves closer to her. Bending down carefully to the lumped form that is the blonde, she reaches out a hand tenderly and strokes it along her face.

Flaxen strands thread through olive fingers and she shivers visibly not sure why her body is reacting this way, it also feels wrong, her brain is screaming at her that this is wrong... there is something wrong, "Why?" She whispers quietly, emerald connecting with sepia.

"Why what?" She hisses and runs a single finger from cheek to chin to tilt her head up, at first it looks like she is about to lean down and kiss her but the blonde interrupts.

"Why are you doing this?" Emma responds.

"Because everything is power," Regina smiles, voluptuous lips turn up then and she circles the blonde, "Magic... sex... domination over a kingdom... all of it... all of it is power," She stops then bending down as she gently strokes her fingers through golden hair, smiling again as she feels the tremble run through the other woman's body, "I **live** for it," she breathes huskily, purring almost, "I **breathe** it, I **feel** it... **everything**... _**all**_ of it..."

Emma doesn't respond then, her body won't let her as she is gently lifted from the ground and there is a pulling sensation, not unlike the portal as she swirls in red smoke and reappears inside what can only be described as bed chambers.

The smoke dissipates then and she is still held in the same position as before, knelt on the ground looking upwards, she feels the other woman more than sees her inch closer to her side. She leans in closely then, her breath blowing silken tresses away from her face and she says softly, "Get some rest because you will need it for when I come back."

And with that she is gone swirling out in the same red haze as they had entered.

She realizes that she is finally alone, her body sags gracelessly to the hard ground and she lays there for a moment on her side, emerald eyes surveying the room. Elaborately decorated huge double doors followed through into a dark room, with a dark mahogany four poster bed and black linens adorning it. The floor was dark and the walls also and literally everything in the room was fit to encompass the iniquitous ruler.

Her gaze shifted to the balcony and she sighed in relief as she pulled herself back into a sitting position. Every muscle in her body protested the movement but she did it anyway, shuffling over onto her side she used the nearby burgundy chaise to assist her in standing. Once done she moves as quickly as her body will allow her towards the open entry, then quicker than she had been able to stand she was blasted back across the room to land harshly against the back of the piece of furniture that had helped her previously. The glimmering by the window quickly faded and she groaned in pain, pale hands reaching to her side and she hissed through her teeth.

"Fuck..." It was said quietly but it echoed loudly through the room and she cringed at the noise it made.

She closed her eyes for a second, waiting for the pain in her ribs to subside before she again pulled herself into a standing position. Instead of going near the balcony again she hovers to the opposite side of the room and starts looking for _anything_ in the chambers that may be of help to her.

Red swaths around them like an angry tornado and as the dark figure is revealed beneath it, the room she has moved to is beyond dark. She lifts her hand and sends a flurry of illuminating orbs to the top of the dark room, in turn unveiling another shrunken dark figure in the corner of the now obvious cell.

She stalks forward, the other woman's dark head turning and sepia orbs pin sepia and the standing figure starts to laugh.

The woman on the floor is nothing but skin and bones, covered with a small shift and in her weakened state her top lip raises in a snarl and she glares hatefully at the other, but she doesn't say a word, not yet.

The standing figure raises her finger and rotates from side to side, admonishing the behaviour then opening her mouth to speak, "Tsk. Soon enough you will be drained and soon enough I will have your power," Her eyes glint with amusement again, "But that's okay, I don't need you alive any more... I have a new play thing to take your place."

The almost prone figure emits a low rumble and at first her doppelganger is unsure what she said as she leans closer, there is a small growl, her own eyes flash dangerously and she flicks her wrist pulling a small amount of the remaining magic from the other woman. Before she dropped her harshly to the ground, knocking her unconscious, "Well... I guess we will just have to play properly after you wake up then."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks for sticking with me guys and now you finally realize what is going on. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Chapter 5**

The pounding in her head was somewhat intense as she came back to consciousness, not something she couldn't handle, more uncomfortable in comparison to the other tortures she had been enduring. She groaned and with a soft fluttering of lashes her eyes adjusted to the lit room, sending more shooting pains through her cranium.

Her doppelganger looks at her, from the chair she has procured in her unconsciousness and a small smile graces her face.

She moves across the room like the embodiment of a snake, kneeling down to her level she caresses soft fingers against her cheeks.

Regina growled, her chocolate eyes flashing dangerously as she grabs the other woman's wrist and pushes the appendage away, "Don't touch me."

"You don't want to play any more?" It was unnerving the whine and the pout that graced her face, she hated that look and to see it reflected on her own features was annoying.

"Why don't you just kill me already, if you have a new toy?" It was quiet and her voice was raspy but her words met the other woman's ear.

"Why would I do that?" Lilith laughed, her cackling ringing through Regina's head like somebody had just scored a nail through her skull but outwardly she displayed only a tiny grimace. Dark eyes locked on her again, "There isn't any fun in that for me if I kill you now."

"What's the point in that if I am going to die anyway?" She whispers.

"The point, dear _**Regina**_," Her name is practically hissed and brown eyes glint dangerously before she reaches out with lightening speed and locks long fingers around her throat, lifting her chin higher, the tips of her nails digging in painfully to the sensitive skin, "I'm still feeding... savouring..." She feels then that distinctive pulling from her center as her magic is prodded like a needle and threaded and pulled to the surface and her doppelganger shivers visibly, closing her eyes. Then the pain dissipates fairly quickly and sepia eyes pin her again, "But I can finish you in other ways..." She starts to lean closer, lips parted and Regina can feel the other woman's breath on her face.

"Never. Gonna. Happen," She snarls baring her teeth but slim fingers tighten around her throat and she is slammed back roughly against the stone behind her and involuntarily she grunts painfully from the impact.

"You really think I can't just will you to?" Lilith grits through her teeth, her other hand lifted and her fingers start to light up to a dull red, haloing her hand in an almost eerie glow.

"Even with my last breath," She breathed, feeling a small fire ignite in her as she realized that she wasn't going to kill her, she _**needed **_her.

"So sure of yourself," she replied, her voice rising in a sing song child like tone, "Lucky for you even if you had enough will left to do anything with, I have plenty of other toys to take _**that**_ way," She shakes her emphatically like she is a rag doll, "I know they _**all**_ enjoy themselves, we could have fun," she licks her lips again, moving her glowing hand to Regina's torso and the other brunette's chest starts to burn. She feels a warmth start to envelop her body, a thankful heat in comparison to the coldness that had been there for weeks now, "If I shared well, we could have worked together to take over this kingdom, we might have been unstoppable. The Evil Queen and the first Evil Queen... of sorts anyway," She purred and leaned forward nuzzling her nose into the crook of the other woman's neck.

Lilith let out a long moan and Regina then felt the shock of warmth from the other woman's tongue as she trailed it up the inside of her shoulder to the lobe of her ear. Leaving behind crisp coldness emphasized by the limited air in the room and she barely suppresses a shiver of disgust as the other woman pulls back her own sepia orbs harden.

"Maybe we still can?" Lilith asks almost childlike and innocently as her hand that is lower trails up her sternum.

"Never," Regina replied through a glimpse of white teeth as she growled out the two syllables.

"Well don't say I didn't offer," Lilith replied almost sweetly before grasping her left hand with her free one, pulling painfully to the surface a little more of the dregs of her remaining magic before stilling, her eyes widened incredulously, "You're not as spent as you should be... from our session this morning... from before... you replenished somehow!"

Suddenly all niceties were swept away as if under a proverbial rug and her face contorts angrily, this time she snarls in response and though Regina should find seeing her own face mirrored back at her in such an expression of seething anger, she has become accustomed to it and she remains stoic, "How?!"

"_**I **_didn't do _**anything**_... maybe _**you**_did..." The corners of her plump lips turn up into a taunting smile and Lilith's only response is to scream in rage, she lifts her up with the hand that is wrapped round her throat and turns swiftly, hurtling her across the room but right before she hits the wall she instead dumps her to the floor none to gently. She hears something crack and she stops again, thinking about the other witch's words... _that's not possible..._

Chocolate coloured orbs flicker to the prone figure on the floor just as Regina's eyes roll to whites and she passes out for the second time with a quiet groan.

Emma had searched the room but to no avail, the only items she could find were jewelery and mirror upon mirror upon mirror. It must have been in her half awake state that she had stowed the hand held mirror from beside the bed underneath the chaise, it was the only thing she could think of to use as a make shift weapon.

She leaned her head against the back of the recliner and her green eyes fell on the bed as she shivered, there was no way in hell she was going to be caught in that bed if the brunette were to return… she wasn't going to give the woman any excuse, but she was so tired.

She dragged herself back on to the top of the chaise, her whole body hurt like she had literally been hit by a truck_... well you were flung around like a fucking toy, Swan, what do you expect?_

She lowered herself carefully to a reclining position and tried to keep emerald orbs focused on the stone of the ceiling but her lids felt like they had a weight to them and they ended up closing... _I'll just rest, just for a little while..._

_She was back at her apartment, cooking breakfast, handing breakfast to Henry and he smiled at her, declaring she had missed something. She was back to the table in seconds with the missing ingredient and just as she was about to sit down there was a knock at the door._

_She frowned, moving to a standing position and whispered quietly to herself as a feeling of deja vu hit her,  
"Hook…" _

_She felt like it took her forever to get to the door, like she floated there and instead of swinging the door open she only just managed to grasp the door knob and as she pulled it shifted to a large metal grate, she could feel her biceps ripple as she managed to pull it open but barely more than a crack and moved her head so she could see round the jamb and the person stood there._

_Except it wasn't Hook, it was Regina, except this woman was different… not only was she wearing an outfit from their world, a nice black dress suit with a beautiful silk turquoise blouse and at least four inch black stilettos._

_But it wasn't her attire that was different, it was her eyes… the chocolate orbs were… soft…_

"_Emma," she breathed, her husky dulcet tones carrying quietly to her as if they were whispered directly into her ear._

"_Regina…" She steps back as if to allow the woman into her apartment, an act she would not usually commit so casually but something about the other woman just felt right, "What's happening?"_

"_I know you don't remember," She replied, smiling back at the blonde in a demure sort of smile she never would have expected to see as an expression on the brown haired woman's face._

Her voice is husky and gentle, it surrounds the blonde reminiscently, the blonde's eyebrows knitted together, emerald eyes flashing with a spark of remembrance…that voice… her dreams from New York… her face contorted into a look of realization,

"_It was you…"_

_She tilted her head, watery sepia eyes connected with green and she nodded her head, the smile never leaving her face as she reached a long fingered hand towards her._

_Emma extended her arm, the door that had hindered her before completely gone, pale fingers entwining with olive and she felt a pulse then as she pulled the other woman across the threshold of her apartment. They seemed to hover for a moment, like someone had pressed pause on the movie and all they could see and feel was the other breathing. _

_"Find me Emma…" The other woman whispered softly._

_The blonde's grip on the other woman's extremity started to loosen, the apartment around them shifting to the surrounds of stone walls, she tried to grip the other woman's hand harder, grasping at it and she looked up to find that the brunette had started to fade in front of her…she flickered between the beautiful vision of the woman in front of her to an unhealthy, gaunt version of the figure she was looking at._

_The next moment the flickering stopped but then the woman herself started to disappear again,  
"No… Regina… don't go!" she pulls at her again but only to find that it is a whisper of air left behind._

Then the room was filled with darkness, it was quiet, too quiet and then suddenly soft fingers were running trails down the side of her cheek and across her forehead tenderly.

A fluttering of lashes and green eyes slowly focussed and connected with familiar chocolate brown eyes but these were almost stone like. The rest of the woman's face came into focus and she bolted upright and away from the woman who was perched precariously on the edge of the chair.

"You're not her…" She whispered.

"Really? Then **who** am I?" Regina purred, inching closer to the blonde.

"I don't know… but you're not her," If she could have backed up any further she would have but her as it was she had to grasp the wooden top of the chair itself to stop from spilling over the edge.

"Doesn't matter really, whether I look like her or me..." She stills a second inching closer but this time the blonde doesn't move and she watches the other woman physically react to her proximity, goose pimples flesh her arms and she intakes breath harshly, "Your body responds to _this_," She gestures with her right hand and trails a finger down her physique, now encompassed by a more revealing black gown that fit to her skin like someone had literally painted it onto her skin, glimpses of olive skin peaking through at her sides and large bosom displayed proudly, "Stronger than any other person in this kingdom has ever reacted... yet you try to fight it... why is that?"

"I don't... know," Emma responds, her words hard and green eyes glint defiantly.

"It doesn't matter," Lilith shrugs it off casually, a look of disinterest flashes across her face before she glances up under lashes and Emma gets the feeling that many a man would have been beguiled by that look, "Why don't we play anyway?"

Before Emma can respond with a negative, Lilith has drawn her wrist up a snaking of red already wrapping itself around the blonde as she wills her forward into her grasp. Long fingers slipping round her jaw line and tips of fingers brush her scalp and her gaze flickers to parted pink lips, she leans in closer then and about to capture soft flesh upon her own where a searing pain rockets through her as the blonde's skull impacts her nose and a loud growl reverberates through her own.

An instant magical reaction, Emma is pitched across the room and away from her, stone scraping through the cotton of her shirt painfully and her breath catches as she swears audibly as the crack from her other side impacts the ground as she slumps to the floor, pockets of colour shooting across her vision and she shakes her head to rid herself of it.

She looks up quickly, waiting for another encounter but the woman is sat still in somewhat of shock as blood trickles down from one nostril and over plump lips. The look says everything Emma has hoped for, that nobody has every struck her visibly and injured her so, _she can be hurt... _

Hard brown eyes glance up then and she waves a hand across her face and in seconds the blood is gone, she stands in one fluid motion and stalks forward towards the blonde, in a flick of a wrist and Emma's arms are bound to her side almost crushingly and painfully against her injured side and once more she is in the air and she knows what is about to happen.

She feels the energy start in her core but this time it feels like its coming out of every inch of her body, that she is enveloped by an open flame inside and out, the room starts to take on a more ethereal albescent luminance that and the more intense the feeling the brighter the room gets along with the feeling that her flesh is being stripped from her bones and an involuntary scream is ripped from coral pink lips.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry this has taken me a while to get back to, hope you like it and keep reading. Also please keep reviewing and telling me what you like or even what you don't like. :) This is a short one.**

**Chapter 6:**

His mouth opened and closed several times at her admission before he finally cleared his throat,  
"Wow... Snow... congratulations, how far along?"

"Well considering I'm due any day now, pretty far along," She replied teasingly.

"Great," He mumbled quietly before sighing softly, "Where do you think they took David?"

"He was dragged off further into the darker corridors on the right but I haven't heard him since," She sighed again but continued with more conviction, "But he isn't dead, I would know it."

Henry, who had been pretty silent up until this point, had been watching the pirate closely, from his furrowed brow, the tracing of fingertips along his course beard hair, he finally asked what Hook was planning.

"I have the inklings of a thought... Snow, how many guards are there?" Hook queried, before he pressed his cheek to the cold steel of the bars that encased them.

"There are two trolls in this corridor, they change shifts every four hours, usually there are others you can hear them gambling in the entrance over to the left sometimes, I think there would also have to be at least two trolls per cell block and if I remember rightly, there are a total of four cell blocks in this dungeon," Snow answered and he could just see the side of her petite face from the angle he was at.

His brow furrowed again and his mind buzzed with thoughts before he turned to the boy,  
"Henry, go to the far end there and hide yourself in the darkness," Hook raised his hand as Henry tried to protest, "It will be fine."

"I want to help!" Henry whispered back.

"No, not yet, now please," He gestured again to the shadowed part of their cell.

Henry did as asked just as the pirate turned to the gate, started banging on it with his hook, trailed it along the steel bars which caused a cacophony of grating, ringing noise it created that reverberated around the cell block.

The guard looked up then and he sneered back, whilst he yelled insults and threats to lure him closer, "Come on you green bastard!"

The troll responded with a loud, guttural noise, moved swiftly and unlocked the gate that confined them with his keys in what seemed like seconds.

He grabbed Hook's vest, pulled him free from his prison, to which the pirate wasted no time in his attack, they entered into a struggle for what seemed like minutes before he finally managed to tangle his fingers into long grubby locks and slammed his head repeatedly into solid brick.

He looked up, facing the cells as he heard more movement to his right and he was presented with another three trolls. He quickly acquired the dead guard's sword and moved back into a defensive stance just as all three of the other guards ran at him.

One of the larger of the trio, lifted its baton and aimed straight for his head, Hook ducked at the last second slammed his foot down hard in the back of its giant knee and sent the green beast sprawling to the ground. With lightening speed he brought the blade down into the curve of its head and shoulders. Blood spurted out of the vein, splattered onto his arm, one side of his face and he cringed not having barely any time to respond to the gore as the shock of another club hit him squarely in his ribs forcing him face first into the stone floor with a loud grunt of pain. He reacted quickly, rolling on to his back, over again, over once more and right before his attacker's heavy boot replaced the space where his head was moments before.

He shoved himself up roughly into a standing position, turned to face the other two trolls and grinned cockily at them whilst he twirled his sword dramatically.

This time he waited for them to come to him.

A few moments later, one of them lost its patience, jabbed at him with their weapon and he managed to dodge the first strike but felt the sting of the blade as it ripped through his shirt at his shoulder. He cried out then, indignantly, he countered the next blows, "That. Was. My. Good. Shirt!" He countered every word with a parry until he forced his opponent's arm up and jumped forward with a severe front kick to its chest. Without hesitation, he followed up immediately and buried his blade deep into the other beasts chest cavity, right to the hilt.

The troll struggled for a moment, not quite comprehending its death before he appeared to go limp and slumped to the floor.

Seconds later, the remaining troll's hurried footsteps gave away its intent of rushing the pirate, Hook removed his hand from the impaled sword hilt, side stepped the attack and rammed his moniker into the back of its ugly green neck. He leaned his whole weight into it, he felt the metal as it slid through its skin and crunched against bone until he physically found himself atop the beast.

Finally the troll twitched, its grip weakened from his forearm and the pirate struggled for a moment to remove his namesake from the dead beast.

He glanced over the first guard he had killed, removed the chain of keys from its belt and wiped the blood on its garments.

Taking a quick moment for a once over at the other dead beasts, he quickly retrieved another sword, returned to the cell where Henry remained, opened the door that the guard had not closed properly and gestured the boy to the front.

Whilst he unlocked Snow's cell he mumbled quietly,  
"I think he'd be safer in with you. I will come back with your Prince and then we will get out of here."

"What about Emma and the others?" Snow asked quietly.

"We're **all** leaving and we're **all** going to get her," The pirate responded.

"We couldn't defeat her before, **Regina** couldn't defeat her!" Snow responded almost hysterical, absently she placed a hand on her heavily pregnant stomach, "What are **we **going to do that she couldn't?"

"We will regroup, in the forest where we have a camp," Hook hurried Henry in beside Snow and handed her the chain of keys, "Just in case you need to get out before I get back, but try to wait for us. Stay in the shadows."

"That's not going to stop her," Snow scoffed and added pointedly, "She has ogres **and **trolls, Hook."

"It will have to work for the moment, we are not going to die in here," Hook replied defiantly, "Now time is of the essence, I must go."

"I'm not leaving without Emma," Snow countered vehemently.

"We're not planning on going without Emma, now stay here and watch the kid, I'll be back when I've found your husband," Hook answered, as he clicked the cell door shut.

"Alright, just be careful," Snow replied, wrapping an arm protectively around Henry's shoulders.

"Aye, I will be."


End file.
